1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates to a male connector of a two connector system wherein the connectors are fixed to respective printed circuit boards and an electrical interconnection is provided between the boards upon mating the two connectors. More particularly, the invention relates to solder mounting the male connector contacts to pads on the circuit board to which it is mounted.
2. Prior Art
Prior art and contemporary connectors of the type disclosed herein are fixed to circuit boards in generally two ways. The leads or pins may be inserted into holes in the circuit board and soldered therein. A second method is to provide a compliancy portion on the pin; e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,982, and rely thereupon for a frictional retention. However, some users prefer to use circuit boards which do not have pin-receiving holes therethrough, thus necessitating another method of fixing a connector thereto. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,000 wherein the depending leads are looped around to form a spring arm and the connector housing includes mounting legs having a laterally projecting lip at the free ends. The connector is mounted on the circuit board with the spring arms in electrical contact with circuit pads on one surface of the board and held thereagainst under pressure by the legs extending through mounting holes in the board and being retained by the lips latching against the opposite surface. Whereas this method has great utility in many cases, certain users, particularly the military and aircraft manufacturers, desire a more permanent attachment of the leads to the circuit pads and also where the mounting site can be quickly and easily probed for electrical integrity.